Mind Link

With Friday came the Environmental Science Excursion. With Friday came two very sulky teenage siblings and a mother with no clue as to what was going on.

“Kyle!” Mariah called from the lounge room. “Do you have camera?”

“Uh,” Kyle searched around in his backpack. “Maybe.”

“It’s in the study,” Tayla said, pushing past her brother to get to the fridge. “And the spare batteries are in the computer desk drawer.”

“Hmmm,” Kyle mumbled.

“You’re welcome,” Tayla snapped.

Kyle rolled his eyes and made his way out of the kitchen and back up the stairs to the study at the end of the hall, passed his and Tayla’s bedrooms. The camera was right where Tayla said it would be, along with the batteries. Kyle didn’t know why, but this annoyed him. He wanted a reason to get mad at Tayla.

Twenty minutes later both siblings were in the car, their mother having insisted on driving them to school. Kyle had called shotgun, but Tayla had gotten to the car first. So it was, after five minutes of squabbling, Mariah Furness had sided with Tayla. Improving her daughter’s day by 110%, and causing a gloomy Kyle to retreat to the back seat, where he sat, kicking Tayla’s chair and not speaking a single word the entire ride.

“Now, be careful,” Mariah worried as she pulled up the school’s parking lot. “Don’t talk to strangers. Always stay where the teacher can see you. Call me if you need anything. Stay together. And don’t get lost!”

“Yes mum,” Tayla and Kyle muttered in bored voices.

“Hmm.” Their mother stared at them skeptically for a moment. “Alright then. I’ll see you after school. I’m not working late so I’ll be here to pick you up at 3:20.”

Tayla and Kyle stared as the black Honda zoomed down the street, disappearing only seconds later. Without looking at each other, they walked off in opposite directions, pretending, as always, that they did not know each other.

Tayla’s locker bay was crowded by the time she had walked through the sports centre and passed all the kids coming too and from their before school music lessons. The surrounding area was always so crowded, and you were guaranteed to collide with at least one person every day. Today Tayla had the pleasure of colliding with a stuck up year seven who stuck his middle finger up before telling her to f–off. Tayla just adored year sevens.

Quickly dumping a few schoolbooks inside and retrieving her Environmental Science workbook from the back, Tayla slammed her locker shut and proceeded down to the Environmental Science classroom. Colin was in his music lesson and Tayla didn’t know when he would be done, so rather than wait for him in amongst the crowd she decided to seek a bit of solitude.

When 8:50 came Kyle, Cody and Katie decided to start making their way down to the Environmental Science room, silently hoping the bus would accidently leave without them on it. Unfortunately when they arrived they found the class present and Mr. Woodley marking the role on the top step of the classroom.

“Where’s Colin?” He asked.

Miranda looked hopeful, and Tayla shot her a scalding look. “He’s at a music lesson, he should be here in a minute,” she said.

Miranda sighed and Mr. Woodley continued marking the roll. “Ah. Mr. Ember’s and company. Decided to join us have you?”

Company? That stung. Kyle Furness was nobody’s company. If anything, they were his.

“Yeah, what of it?” Cody answered.

“Hmm. The bus should be here in a few minutes. If you’ll all be kind enough to wait here, I’ve just got to go and get something from my office,” Mr. Woodley said, starting up the path. “And don’t try to run off because I’ll be counting numbers as we get on the bus,” he added as an afterthought.

A few people groaned and mumbled what they’d like Mr. Woodley to be doing instead.

“Have fun today Tayla,” Katie laughed, “won’t you?”

Tayla shut her eyes and tried to ignore the annoying nasal sound that was Katie Pluck’s voice.

“Oh, she’ll have a great time today,” Cody inputted, “She’s in her element with all the pretty birdies and flowers.”

Katie shrieked with laughter and Tayla could have sworn she heard Kyle chuckled. Taking a deep breath Tayla gritted her teeth and amazingly, walked away. She could hear Cody and Katie calling to her but she kept her head, she had promised Colin. Besides, she was in no mood to get on Kyle’s bad side when she would be stuck with him all day.

“Hey Tayla!” Tayla’s head snapped up, Colin was running down the path towards the Environmental Science room.

“Hey Colin,” she called back. She could hear Kyle, Cody and Katie laughing, and unsure of what exactly they were laughing at, chose to ignore it.

“Where’s Mr. Woodley?” Colin asked when he had reached his friend.

“Oh, he went to his office for something,” Tayla replied.

“Yeah, he’s waiting for you there, Colin!” Cody called. Katie and Kyle burst into laughter, as did a few other people in the class.

Colin ignored this jibe, probably trying to think of a good comeback. Tayla was certain he would get Cody later.

The bus arrived with in ten minutes of Mr. Woodley’s return. On the bus pure havoc broke out. There was enough room for three more classes, but every student had clandestinely plotted to each take their own window seat. And so it was that people were talking ten times louder than usual so their friends could hear them across the aisle and over the backs of seats.

“Quite down everyone!” Mr. Woodley called from the front. The noise lowered the tiniest bit. “Now, when we get off the bus everyone needs to come and get a map from me. One between each pair, unless you want to get lost.”

“I don’t think that’ll help Katie, she doesn’t know how to read a map,” Colin whispered in Tayla’s ear. They were the only two people who had chosen to sit in the same seat.

“What are we actually doing on this Nature Hike?” Kyle asked from the back seat.

“You are to identify different types of Flora and Fauna, where they live, what they eat and so on.” Mr. Woodley continued. “Do not feed the animals! Do not pick the plants! The information you collect today will help you with your project. Meet back at the playground at 12:00 for lunch. Oh, and the first team to collect all the information wins a prize.”

Well-played Mr. Woodley. Turning the task into a game with rewards is a definite way to get people participating. Kyle knew that was one prize he wasn’t going to win. Tayla would be more concerned about doing a good job than finishing first; that was if they could co-operate enough to start in the first place.

The class piled off the bus even before it had stopped fully moving. Tayla and Colin were the first off, eager to get out of the claustrophobic bus: Kyle, Cody and Katie lagged behind, hoping this time that the bus would drive off with them.

Mr. Woodley handed out the maps and instruction sheets, warning everyone that if they weren’t at the meeting place by 12:05 then they would go hungry. Tayla collected the material for her and Kyle and Colin did the same for himself and his partner. Neither was eager for the excursion to start but both knew that the job wasn’t going to get done without their effort. Before the teams split off Mr. Woodley got everyone to write their mobile numbers on a sheet of paper, just in case anyone did get lost.

“Alright guys, get to work,” Mr. Woodley called and the class scattered.

Cody dragged Katie off and Colin unwillingly went with Miranda in the opposite direction, which left Kyle and Tayla standing awkwardly ten metre’s apart.

“Well get going you two,” Mr. Woodley said. “You don’t want to fall behind and miss out on the prize.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t wanna do that,” Tayla mumbled.

Kyle shook his head, “Come on,” he urged and after a few seconds Tayla followed him down a path no other group had taken.